Scotland’s thumping defeat to The Netherlands is a “handy lesson” in the run-up to the Euros, says defender Ryan Porteous.

Steve Clarke’s side seemed to lose their concentration as the Dutch scored three goals in the final 18 minutes after being matched by the Scots’ composure and intensity for much of the contest.

“Obviously it’s handy to learn this lesson right now,” the Watford centre-half said.

“A friendly game it doesn’t mean anything going into the Euros, obviously we’re going to start the Euros against a similar team in quality in Germany, so you can’t let that happen [a similar defeat] or you’re almost out the tournament after one game.

“The gaffer has spoken about it. That’s why we’ve taken these kind of games on, it’s playing against these pot one teams – the more you play against them the more you try and get to their level, the more it’s going to improve us as a squad.

“Obviously, we’ve come on leaps and bounds in the last few years, everyone has spoken about that, but we want to kick on now again. Even with being in the Nations League A, you want to go and show that you belong there, so nights like this will help that.”